


Enthusiasm

by alessandralee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 17:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1313296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Bus hosts super-powered guests while Ward and Simmons talk in the lab.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Enthusiasm

The soft swish of the door alerts her to the fact that she’s no longer alone in the lab. Assuming it’s Fitz, she continues putting together her supplies. Honestly, she doesn’t understand why they won’t just come down to the lab and let her look at them. The lighting is much clearer down here and it’s more sanitary. But Coulson’s not pushing the issue with their newly found allies, so neither is she. Maybe later she can talk some of them into coming down and giving her some samples.

She’s so lost in her thoughts that it takes her a minute to realize that Fitz hasn’t moved to his side of lab. She looks up and finally notices that it’s actually Ward who has joined her.

“Oh Agent Ward, I’m sorry. I assumed you were Fitz. Is there something I can do for you? You weren’t hurt, were you?” He’d told he was fine, but he had a tendency to play down his injuries.

“I’m fine,” he says. He can’t blame her for asking, most of his time in the lab is spent with Jemma rushing around him, either cleaning and stitching up his wounds, or running some sort of diagnostic on him.

“Alright,” she says, laying a pair of forceps on the tray in front of her. She probably won’t need them, but she’d rather not make the extra trip if she does. “Then what brings you down here?”

“Coulson sent me, in case you needed help carrying things.”

“Oh well, I think I can handle all of the equipment, but if you’d take this” she settles a large package of gauze into his hands, “it would make my life easier.”

She lifts her tray of medical supplies and heads for the door, only to find it blocked by Ward’s broad frame

“Also he sais not to let you upstairs until you’ve agreed not to pressure them into letting you run tests on them.”

Her face drops and she’s a bit insulted.

“I wasn’t going to do pressure them into doing anything. I was just going to ask them. Politely. They’re the living, breathing embodiment of evolution. Their DNA is probably fascinating. Can you imagine getting to look at it?” She reins her excitement in, knowing that Grant Ward is not the biggest fan of the science jargon he doesn’t understand. “But I would never be rude about it.”

“Not intentionally. But when you get started talking about science, your enthusiasm can be kind of,” he pauses to find the right word, “off-putting.”

“Like when you called them ‘Blue’ and ‘Sunglasses’?” she counters.

“Like when I called them ‘Blue’ and ‘Sunglasses,’” he agrees reluctantly. “Coulson would like to avoid offending them any further.”

She understands, she really does. She imagines it’s a nightmare for them, the thought of being poked and prodded by scientists, like one of the rats she has sitting in a cage on Fitz’s side of the lab. So she agrees not to ask for anything. Still, Ward doesn’t budge from the door.

“Is there anything else? So you want to warn me not to wrap the bandages too tight or to make sure I’m liberal with the anesthetic?” There’s an edge to her voice, and he’s not making eye contact.

“No,” his voice is unusually quiet and unsure, “I’m just not in a hurry to go back up there.”

She’s a bit confused, but Jemma has enough sense to realize this has nothing to do with her or her potentially probing questions. She sets her tray on the table behind her and turns to him, concerned.

“Is anything wrong?”

“Not exactly. We just have two mind-readers up there and I’m getting tired of having people and things messing around in my head.”

It’s a big confession, coming from Ward, who is usually perfectly find to listen to her worries, but never shares much of himself, at least, not with her. She knows he must have told Skye some things about himself, because the other woman shoots her warning looks whenever she brings up family and home. But for the most part, Jemma is in the dark when to his past.

“Oh.”

There’s a heavy silence between them as Jemma tries to think of something more to say.

Abruptly, she grabs the gauze from his hands, and tucks it under her arm.

“How about you stay down here for a bit, in case I need any additionally supplies?” She punctuates her suggestion by removing the forceps from her tray and setting them on the table. “I might not have all the right equipment, I just grabbed the basics.”

Grant Ward isn’t one for large displays of gratitude, or even small, verbal acknowledgements of gratitude. But as Jemma grabs her things to leave the lab, he shoots her a grateful smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "X-Men" from vintagecoloring on tumblr. Technically, writing shorter things is supposed to lead to me filling more prompts, but it's really not.


End file.
